The UK and sporting world at large are currently being captivated by the fairytale story that is Luke Littler’s arrival at the World Darts Championship, and after going viral with his post-victory meal earlier in the tournament, a kebab house is offering him free kebabs for life he wins the whole thing.
Now these are the kind of stories we want to kick off the year with.
The 16-year-old darts sensation became the youngest player in history to reach the semi-finals of the Worlds, netting a cool £100,000 for himself in the process (not too shabby for a teenager), and is now a genuine heavy favourite to win his first ever PDC major on debut.
After telling Sky Sports that he planned on treating himself to “a kebab and a Coke” after his first wins, he delighted fans by sharing a simple but wholesome post of him doing just that at a London kebab house and, if he keeps on the way he’s going, he might never have to pay the pleasure ever again.
In a funny little twist and form of motivation from the world-famous chain and Britain’s biggest kebab shop, Kebhouze, their London site on Oxford Street has promised to give Littler free kebabs for life if wins the 2023 World Darts Championship final on Wednesday, 3 January.
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The steaks (see what we did there?) have never been higher.
While he has occasionally switched things up with the likes of McDonald’s and revealed that he’s been treating himself to the post-match fast food tradition ever since he started playing darts “non-stop” from the age of 18, a doner wrap with nothing more than lettuce and mayo is his go-to.
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Maybe it’s the humble, working-class relatability of it all, but it’s a running joke that hasn’t just been amusing fans and newbies to the sport alike but he’s been more than happy to lean into as he continues to take to the Ally Pally stage like a duck to water. The meme world has certainly appreciated it too.
Speaking on the tantalising offer that the Cheshire teen simply couldn’t refuse if he tried, Kebhouze’s Chief Marketing Officer Giulio Paternò told the Daily Star, “After hearing that Luke loves nothing more than a kebab to celebrate a win, we had to make him an offer that would further encourage the 16-year-old master player to win at this year’s PDC World Darts Championship”.
“Hopefully knowing that a lifetime supply of our premium kebabs as well as the esteemed title are just on the other side will give him more ammo to go on and win the Championship at Ally Pally. We wish Luke the best of luck – the next one is on us!”
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Absolutely mint. With just two games between him and a first major title in his maiden World Championship (and kebab heaven, of course), having already wiped the floor with multiple senior and talented opponents with more pedigree to their name, we’re all starting to believe he can do it.
The Warrington teen faces Rob Cross, who also won the tournament on debut at 28 back in 2018, on Tuesday at 7:30pm, where he’ll make even more history if he manages to secure a place in the final two the following day and will play either Scott Williams or Luke Humphries for the Sid Waddell trophy.
When it comes to seeing how this spectacular story is going to end, we’re hungrier than Luke after a tense five-set quarter-final.
Featured Images — Luke Littler (via Instagram)/Live Darts (via X)/The Manc Group
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KSI reveals the names who turned him down before booking Misfits fight in Manchester
Danny Jones
Social media star turned musician and boxer KSI has revealed a laundry list of names he wanted to fight instead of his upcoming opponent at the latest Misfits Boxing match in Manchester.
KSI’s next bout against mixed martial artist and multiple-time jiu-jitsu world champion Dillon Danis was officially booked at the start of this month, with the fight just a little over a month and a half away.
The advent of celebrity/influencer boxing isn’t going anywhere – if anything it’s only getting more and more popular as time goes on – and the clamour for the recent Misfits franchise here in the UK is only further proof of that.
However, the promotion doesn’t have all of the pulling power it would hope to at present, as KSI revealed that he didn’t get his first choice of fighter when it came to picking an opponent – in fact, he claims Dillon Danis was actually his fifth choice overall.
KSI reveals all the opponents that declined to fight him in March and why he ended up fighting Dillon Danis 😳
As you can see in the clip above, taken from his most recent YouTube upload in which he discussed fellow celebrity boxer and influencer Jake Paul‘s potential fight against Canelo Alvarez was called off, the 31-year-old insisted that Danis was a backup.
“You guys always say that my opponents have been terrible but how many people pull out? I don’t think you understand how many people pull out of fighting me”, he began.
“Even with this fight, I know I’m not even allowed to say it but f*** it. Dillon Danis wasn’t even my fourth choice. We went to Nate Diaz, he said no; we went to Donald Cerrone, he said no; We went to Tony Ferguson: he said no. These guys said no to me.
“Even [Jorge] Masvidal [said no] – we went to Masvidal to fight. He can’t do it because of the UFC. Guys, we’ve been trying to find people to fight.”
Is this just some early and casual form of trash-talking from KSI? Maybe, but we know lots of these big conversations happen as proven by the younger Paul brother’s fight against Mike Tyson actually coming to fruition late last year.
There were talks for a rematch against Tommy Fury too.Dillon Danis during his weigh-in against Logan Paul.KSI is set to fight Dillon Danis in Manchester next month. (Credit: The Manc Group/Ghazi Twaissi via Wikimedia Commons)
Even bringing up the discussion of a potential match-up against Darren Till following his fight against Tommy Fury falling through, he said that the Liverpool-born MMA and former Muay Thai fighter likely wouldn’t be willing to meet the ‘rehydration clause’, which essentially restricts a fighter’s weight limit.
So, for now, Danis it will have to be.
General admission for KSI vs Dillon Danis on 29 March and will be streamed live on the DAZN app and platform – will you be tuning in at home?
You can watch his full video speaking ahead of the fight HERE and grab your tickets down below:
KSI VS DILLON DANIS: UNFINISHED BUSINESS‼️ TICKETS NOW ON SALE‼️
Featured Images — KSI (screenshot via YouTube)/Press Shot (supplied via AO Arena)
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Noel Gallagher says he had to ‘switch off’ Kendrick Lamar’s ‘nonsense’ Super Bowl performance
Danny Jones
Noel Gallagher has revealed he wasn’t exactly the biggest fan of the Kendrick Lamar Halftime Show at this year’s Super Bowl.
In case you’ve been living under a giant American football-shaped rock over the last few days, US rapper Kendrick Lamar enjoyed a much bigger second bite at what was already a bit of a ‘break-the-internet’ moment this past Sunday.
Having been chosen to headline Super Bowl LIX, the 37-year-old’s provocative performance during the Halftime Show had plenty of political messaging and made one VERY big and not-so-subtle statement about fellow feuding rapper Drake, sending those watching and reacting on social media into a frenzy.
That being said, despite being the most-watched Halftime Show in the event’s history, not everyone was so keen on it and one of those people, it turns out, was Manchester’s very own Noel Gallagher.
Noel perfrming at Wythenshawe Park.Kendrick’s Super Bowl meme sent round the world.
Speaking on to talkSPORT ahead of Manchester City’s Champions League game against Real Madrid on Tuesday night (which didn’t exactly go to plan…), the Oasis singer, songwriter and lead guitarist was asked if he was a fan of the Super Bowl, to which he revealed he’s been watching the NFL for some time.
With host Andy Goldstein then searching for his opinion on Kendrick and the Halftime Show, Noel began by saying, simply: “I had to switch it off…
“It was absolute nonsense”, said Gallagher, admitting that while he refused to watch all of it, he was initially confused by “like 300 people getting out of a car for the first two minutes.”
He went on to add that it wasn’t necessarily a personal thing against the hip-hop star that he just doesn’t usually rate “the halftime nonsense”, claiming that “it’s usually artists I don’t like.” When asked about his favourite past Super Bowl Halftime performances.
Truth be told, he said he never typically watches it anyway, insisting that he’s “not interested” in the over-the-top spectacle that $10-20 million and often comes under criticism for its artist selection.
We’d like to imagine a world where the older Gallagher brother and ‘King Kenny’ have nothing but mutual respect and admiration for their respective music careers but it’s fair to say he isn’t keen on the Halftime Show shenanigans.
Don’t hold your breath for a surprise Oasis appearance at next year’s Super Bowl.
You can watch Kendrick Lamar’s performance in full HERE or to see it broken down in more detail, check out the video down below: